PARENTS of some of the British victims yesterday told of last year's horror of watching their children die.

Many had watched helplessly as the terrible events unfolded on TV, knowing their loved ones were inside.

Speaking after the service at St Paul's Cathedral, in which 3,000 petals were sprinkled from the Whispering Gallery in memory of the victims, the group said they had relived the horrendous events of September 11 over and over.

Colonel Michael Carrington, who lost his son Jeremy, said, "When I saw the 3,000 rose petals dropping, it takes an awful long time for them to fall, and that's an awful lot of people and their families."

Jim Cudmore, whose son Neil was killed in the Twin Towers, said, "If your child or husband dies in a car accident, you don't keep seeing that accident over and over again.

"But we have lived with our children's deaths every month, every day, for the last 12 months, and there's no escaping it."

The families had earlier spent half an hour talking privately about the tragedy with the Prince of Wales and Prince Harry.

Mr Cudmore said, "Prince Harry was very nice and was genuinely concerned about our stories, but then who wouldn't be? He was good."

Alex Clarke, 59, who lit a candle for her daughter Suria during the ceremony, said she had been struggling to retain her composure.

She said, "I was so concerned that I was actually going to get that candle lit. It was a very solemn moment. I was lighting a candle of hope, and I hope that the comfort it gave me was shared by others.

"It was a very personal occasion. September 11 was the most devastating day of our lives when we realised what had happened to our children."

Another relative at the cathedral, Tony Greene, said, "September 11 was so public. The TV report was so graphic and perpetual and ongoing. Those pictures ... seeing them over and over creates a lot of grief for the families. They are very difficult and emotional and traumatic."

Col Carrington added, "It was a picture of hell. That's what Ground Zero looked like. Fire and gases - the most horrendous place."

After a year of private anguish, and a day of high emotion at the service, four relatives of British victims decided to speak out about what they had been through in the past year.

They expressed gratitude to the organisers of the public service in the cathedral and also a private one held specially for them afterwards.

The names of the 67 British victims and 18 people with close British links were read out in a roll call, and a candle lit for each.

Col Carrington said he believed his son Jeremy, 34, moved to New York from Brentwood, Essex, to be a broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, was on the 105th floor of the north tower, the first to be hit by the suicide pilots.

He had been looking forward to his first wedding anniversary with American wife Pattie on September 30.

Col Carrington, chairman of finance group Burlington Holdings, said, "He wouldn't have known anything about it. The smoke and suffocation from lack of oxygen would have done for him.

"I was in my office when my secretary came in and said a plane had flown into the Empire State Building.

"Well, it wasn't of course, it was the north tower, and I knew where my son worked. I picked up the phone to him and of course there wasn't any answer."

Coincidentally, Jeremy had survived the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993. Then, he had taken control when panic was spread ing as fast as the smoke.

"He was a big strong boy and took charge. He got people out, leading them down 30 floors to safety."

But Jeremy had no chance this time, his father said.

"It was such a horrific event that it left a scar on everybody. Scars fade but they never go away."

Tony Greene's son-in-law John Moran had travelled to New York to give a lecture, a few days before his eldest son's eighth birthday.

Mr Moran, 37, had left behind his wife Louise in Surrey with their twoyear-old daughter and sons aged six and seven, and flown to the US with his company, accountancy firm Accenture. He was on the 106th floor when the terrorists struck.

Mr Greene said, "We had been out to London to get a new bed all day and hadn't seen the news.

"My wife and daughter switched on the telly and we watched. We were hoping he wasn't in there. But of course, he was."

BY CANDLELIGHT: A little piece of America in the heart of Cardiff was the scene of a candlelit vigil at

1.46pm yesterday.

Welsh sympathisers gathered at the New York Deli in High Street Arcade to remember the dead of September 11.

Owner Harriett Davies, pictured right,, originally from Connecticut, presided over a moving ceremony during which famous Welsh hymn Cwm Rhondda was sung, bringing two nations together.

"It was a powerful moment. I just said a few words and I wanted a Welsh hymn because everyone would know it. I've had an amazing amount of support from the Welsh people since the attacks.

"I've lived here for 12 years and I know the Welsh are a very emotional people that really carries through in their singing."

Mrs Davis also recited WH Auden's moving poem Stop All the Clocks and kept a flame burning in the shop window until nightfall in remembrance.